Flexible and self retracting pole vault and high jump crossbar

ABSTRACT

A flexible and self retracting crossbar, which is formed of multiple different separated pieces with an elastic device in between, and has a self retracting pulley device.

This application claims priority from Provisional application No. 62/879,905, filed Jul. 29, 2019, the entire contents of which are herewith incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Pole vaulting is carried out by an athlete holding a pole and using that pole to try and jump over a height that can be adjusted. During competitions, a horizontal crossbar is placed on the vertical “standard” pole and the athlete must jump over the crossbar without dislodging it from its place on the standard.

A cross bar is typically formed of semi rigid plastic. Once assembled, the cross bar is 14′10″ long with a 1.2 inch circular outer diameter.

Practicing is often done with a plastic cross bar that is the same cross bar used in competitions. This provides the best training experience, since it is the same experience as in a competition.

However during training, the inventor noticed many disadvantages from using such a device. It is time-consuming to reset the crossbar onto the standard when it gets knocked off. This time consuming nature of setting the crossbar is also a problem during competition. However, during practice, there will typically be many more jumps than there are during competition, making the problem more time consuming. Also, an athlete can land on the fallen crossbar leading to their injury, and/or possibly the breakage of the crossbar.

A bungee cord can be used in place of the crossbar. The bungee cord is an elastic cross band which is flexible and can stretch even all the way to the ground or pit when the athlete lands directly on the crossbar. The bungee usually sags when hung between the two vertical standards that hold the crossbar. As such, the bungee does not provide the look and feel of a real crossbar. An advantage, however, is that the bungee stays in place even when it is hit. A disadvantage is that the bungee provides a false sense of confidence because it is not the same as a crossbar, and hence many trainers believe that using the bungee does not provide the proper training experience.

SUMMARY

Embodiments provide a safe, effective and efficient way for pole vaulters and high jumpers to train in similar conditions as a competition while maintaining safety. Embodiments eliminate the time consuming need to replace the crossbar each time it is knocked off during practice sessions. The flexibility of the crossbar reduces injury risk and crossbar breakage when an athlete lands on the crossbar after knocking it off. Moreover, even though this is very safe, this provides a competition feel, based on its use of competition size components, that a bungee cord does not.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the Drawings:

The drawings show aspects of the invention, specifically,

FIG. 1 shows a crossbar of an embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows the spool up mechanism;

FIG. 3 shows the complete system with spool and crossbar;

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a crossbar with connectors; and

FIGS. 5A and 5B show a closeup of the connectors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments describe a flexible and self retracting crossbar assembly.

The crossbar 100 is formed of multiple pieces 112 held together with an elastic band 120. In addition, the crossbar is on an automatic retractor system 200, allowing the crossbar to be knocked off of the standards, and easily and automatically retracted back into place on the standards.

Embodiments are shown in the figures. FIG. 1 shows the crossbar 100 formed of a plurality of separated crossbar pieces 110, 112 and others held between the first and second end pieces 105, 106. An elastic band 120 runs between the first end piece 105 and the second end piece 106 held by the elastic band. The crossbar pieces 110, 112 are each hollow, and fit over the elastic band 120. In one embodiment, the elastic band 120 can be a bungee. The crossbar material is a combination of plastic and fiberglass.

In one embodiment, the crossbar pieces such as 110 have the same 1.2 inch outer diameter as a conventional crossbar; however have a thicker plastic thickness than the conventional. The usual ¼ inch thick pole is increased in thickness to around ⅓ inch-1.2 inch.

In one embodiment, there can be spacers between the separated crossbar pieces.

In one embodiment, the current each crossbar piece is between 30-40 inches long, with a concave surface at one end, and a convex surface at the other end. This allows adjacent sections to fit together firmly with a concave surface of one piece fitting into the concave surface of the piece next to it.

In an embodiment, shown in FIGS. 4Aa and 4B, the crossbar is formed of 5 separate sections, collectively adding up to the 14′10″ length of a conventional crossbar. The 2 and bars 408 and 410 have respective end pieces such as 412 thereon which attached to the standard. Each section, such as 404, is shown in detail in FIG. 4B, as having an outer part 450, having an inner cavity 452 that has a hollow center for one or more bungees to run the length of the crossbar. The section includes a first concave end 460 and a second convex end 462. The concave end 460 abuts against a convex end of the neighboring crossbar section; conversely the convex end abuts against the concave end of an adjacent crossbar section.

A plastic plug 480 with a hollow center 482 and having a convex end and concave end goes on both ends of the sections. The convex end is configured outward on one end of each section, and the concave end faces outward on the other end of the section. The band 120 also assists in holding firm the crossbar pieces. Embodiments will use between one to five bands inside the line of crossbar pieces to keep the bar firm and straight.

In operation, the elastic band 120, which can be formed of rubber or bungee material, has enough tension to pull the crossbar back together after it has been hit by a athlete during an attempted vault. The tension is sufficient that it will still allow the crossbar to momentarily split, thus reducing the likelihood of injury to the athlete, and reducing the possibility of the crossbar being damaged.

In addition, the crossbar 100 itself is mounted at both ends on retractors shown in FIG. 2 as 200, and also shown in FIG. 3 as 300. FIG. 2 shows the detail of the retractor 200, showing that the cord 205 is wound around a spool 210. The spool has a central winder 220 which holds the roll of cord 205. The central winder 220 is also spring-loaded, to spring bias the cord 205 to return to its rolled up position after being extended. The spring force also maintains force against it so that it is biased by the spring force on the spool 220 into the position where the crossbar 100 stays on the rails.

In FIG. 3, the first retractor 200 holds to the first end piece 105 of the crossbar and the second retractor 300 holds to the second end piece 106, by cord 205. In FIG. 3, there are first and second crossbar holding surfaces 320, 321 on the standard poles 330 331 respectively. The top surfaces of each of these crossbar holding surfaces 320, 321 holds the respective sections such as 110 of the crossbar pole 100.

In addition, the spool device 200 has guiding surfaces 230, 231 and 232 respectively located approximately 120° spaced from one another. In one embodiment, the spool 220 is wider than the rolled up cord 206 that is held on the spool 220, and the guiding surfaces such as 231 are indented by a support mechanism 235 which indents to hold the cord. In one embodiment, there is also a spool holding surface 240 which is attached to the standard 330, which holds the spool holding device 210 in place. In one embodiment, the spool holding device 210 can be moved up and down, and in another embodiment the spool holding device is placed at a low enough level to not need movement as the crossbar is moved up and down.

In operation, the crossbar 100 is attached to the standards 320, 321, at the desired height. Each side 105, 106 of the crossbar 100 is attached to a respective automatic retractor, 200, 300, by a cord 205, 305. Each retractor has a band attached to a side of the crossbar allowing the crossbar to be pulled all the way down to the pit by an athlete should the athlete hit the crossbar while jumping. Once the athlete releases the crossbar, however, the spring force causes the crossbar to automatically retracted back up to the proper location.

In operation, the crossbar is set and attached on the standard to the desired height. When an athlete touches the crossbar, one of two things happen. In one scenario, the flexible crossbar momentarily bends or flex and returns to the set position. This is possible, since the crossbar has elastic parts in between the different separated parts. This allows the crossbar to bend and flex, thus avoiding or minimizing the possibility of injury.

In the other case, the athletes body pulls the crossbar down to the pit. In that case, once the athlete has been pulled to the pit, the retractors pull the crossbar back up to the desired height via the self retracting device.

Advantages include the following. The crossbar has the ability to come apart and separate, and then come back together into a rigid state. This provides flexibility that reduces injury and deuces the possibility of crossbar breakage.

The crossbar also has the ability to fully retract to its initial state after being pulled off the standard. This allows quick resetting of the crossbar. Moreover, both the crossbar and the retractor can be moved up and down on the poles as desired.

Even though this is a safety device, this can provide a true crossbar experience by using a crossbar that is formed of multiple rigid devices, each of which has the same outer diameter as a conventional pole of a competition crossbar, but yet is flexible providing give when hit.

Another advantage is that by having the crossbar automatically retract to its original position, this minimizes the training disruptions associated with having to continually manually reset the crowbar when it is knocked off.

The previous description of the disclosed exemplary embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these exemplary embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A pole jumping system, comprising: a first vertical pole holder, having a first horizontal pole holding surface, a second vertical pole holder, having a second horizontal pole holding surface, a crossbar sized to extend between said first and second vertical pole holders, the crossbar formed of a plurality of separated crossbar pieces, each said crossbar piece having an opening passing through a central section, and an elastic band passing through the crossbar pieces and holding the crossbar pieces together relative to one another.
 2. The system as in claim 1, wherein the crossbar has a first end piece at a first end, and a second end piece at a second end, and where the elastic band extends between the first end piece and the second end piece, and where the first end piece abuts against the first horizontal pole holding surface, and the second end piece abuts against the second horizontal pole holding surface.
 3. The system as in claim 1, wherein the crossbar has a 1.2 inch outer diameter.
 4. The system as in claim 2, further comprising a first retractor, connected to the first end piece, and a second retractor, connected to the second end piece, the first and second retractors providing spring bias which moves the crossbar back to extend between the first horizontal pole holding surface, and the second end piece abuts against the second horizontal pole holding surface When a force is applied to remove the crossbar from extending between the first horizontal pole holding surface and the 2nd horizontal pole holding surface.
 5. The system as in claim 4, wherein the first and 2nd retractors each include a spool of wire, which is spring biased to hold into a position that holds the pole between the first horizontal pole holding surface and the 2nd horizontal pole holding surface.
 6. The system as in claim 4, wherein the spool of wire includes first 2nd and 3rd spool holding surfaces, separated by 120° each.
 7. The system as in claim 1, wherein each crossbar piece has a concave surface at one end and converts surface at the other end, where the convex surface of each piece fits within a concave surface of a corresponding piece.
 8. The system as in claim 7, wherein each crossbar piece has identical plastic plugs at opposite ends, one plug with its concave end facing out and the other plug with its convex end facing out.
 9. The system as in claim 1, wherein there are multiple bands passing through the crossbar pieces. 